Global Grand Challenges Summits

The second Global Grand Challenges Summit (GGCS) on the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Grand Challenges for Engineering was held in Beijing, China, on September 14-16, 2015. The Summit was jointly organized by the NAE, the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), and the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE). The event was hosted by the CAE. The first GGCS was held in London in March 2013.

An important part of the event was the Student Day, which preceded the official beginning of the 2015 GGCS. At the London event, Student Day involved a day-long business plan competition among students who attended the Summit. The 2013 Student Day competition focused on ideas related to the Grand Challenges. For the Beijing Summit an expanded version of this concept was envisioned, as follows. 

Undergraduate student teams of six members each were formed before the end of 2014. The goal was to have 30 students representing each of the three countries (US, China, UK), for a total of 90 students, at the Summit in Beijing. For both options team members designated a team leader; and the leader was required to be an engineering student.

Teams proposed and developed a business plan for a start-up based on an idea/concept related to the NAE Grand Challenges for Engineering. Each team’s proposed business plan was developed prior to the Summit, starting in January 2015 and ending with the final competition held during Student Day in Beijing in front of a judging panel of entrepreneurs and innovators.